British Sign Language

In October 2020 the General Committee agreed to commence a pilot project in British Sign Language (BSL), where the signing would be placed in video above the English Authorised Version on the Society’s website. As this project practically runs very differently from a typical Bible translation venture, a submission from the project leader is included largely as provided.

A draft video of John chapter 1 was produced, and a back translation made in the form of a written interlinear document of the whole chapter … A number of feedback comments were made, and the back translation was modified and agreed. Since then, over many months, a deaf presenter has been engaged, and a system of video recording has been tested and set up. This includes the use of a teleprompter machine that scrolls through the text and is mirrored through the camera lens while the presenter reads. Backgrounds and processes have been developed to make corrections simple, such as signing three verses at a time, so we can remove and substitute corrected clips smoothly. The presenter has been hard at work practicing and correcting. We have also engaged a group of deaf believers to give feedback on the validity of the translation and the style and clarity of the signing in each chapter. This TBS Editorial Feedback group views the clips and gives feedback on each chapter. The feedback is then collated, and the clip altered accordingly. The first draft clip of John chapter 1 has been sent to the TBS videographer to edit the clip, test the development, and see how to integrate the video into the TBS Online Bible.

Please remember this project in your prayers.